Back therapy and exercise apparatus

ABSTRACT

A back therapy and exercise apparatus having a heavily padded horizontal knee bar made of pipe and with the padding formed of resilient foam material such as foam rubber wrapped with plastic, and a padded toe bar in parallel horizontally spaced relation to the knee bar and also made of pipe. A flexible ladder consisting of horizontal pipe sections supported on chains depends from the opposite ends of the knee bar. A trapeze is positioned with its horizontal bar slightly above and spaced laterally from the knee bar, and a rope having knots at spaced intervals depends from the trapeze to permit a user to grasp the trapeze bar, climb the flexible ladder, hook his knees over the knee bar, hook his toes under the toe bar, and lower himself to an inverted position by means of the knotted rope for the desired length of time.

United States Patent [191 Penner [4 1 Apr. 1,1975

[ BACK THERAPY AND EXERCISE APPARATUS 22 Filed: June 13, 1973 21 Appl.No.: 369,709

[52] U.S. Cl 128/75, 272/61, 272/62, 272/63 [51] Int. Cl. A61h 1/02,A63b 1/02 272/57 R, 60 R, 61-85, 272/62, 63; 128/25 R, 75'

[58] Field of Search OTHER PUBLICATIONS Martial Arts Supplies co., Ad.in Black Belt Magazine, 3-1973.

Marcy Gymnastic Equipment Co., Brochure 10-1963. Station 10.

Primary ExaminerAnton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Joseph R. TaylorAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Schapp and Hatch [57] ABSTRACT A back therapyand exercise apparatus having a heavily padded horizontal knee bar madeof pipe and with the padding formed of resilient foam material such asfoam rubber wrapped with plastic, and a padded toe bar in parallelhorizontally spaced relation to the knee bar and also made of pipe. Aflexible ladder consisting of horizontal pipe sections supported onchains depends from the opposite ends of the knee bar. A trapeze ispositioned with its horizontal bar slightly above and spaced laterallyfrom the knee bar, and a rope having knots at spaced intervals dependsfrom the trapeze to permit a user to grasp the trapeze bar, climb theflexible ladder, hook his knees over the knee bar, hook his toes underthe toe bar, and lower himself to an inverted position by means of theknotted rope for the desired length of time.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR' 1 ms 3. 874.375 sum 2 0f 2FIE--7- BACK THERAPY AND EXERCISE APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a BACK THERAPY AND EXERCISE APPARATUS, andmore particularly to a device for supporting a body in a relativelycomfortable inverted position.

Various devices have been used to provide traction to individuals forpurposes of therapy and exercise. Such devices typically comprisecables, pulleys, weights and cycling machines designed to apply apulling force to various spinal and abdominal muscles. Various otherdevices use the full body weight to act as an elongated load to the axisof the body to thereby apply traction to the body and spine. Suchdevices typically apply support for the body in an inverted position toprovide natural traction as well as relieve spinal compression whichnaturally occurs when the body is in its normal upright position. US.Pat. No. 3,593,708 to Steele is typical of such devices. Such devicesfrequently lack means for easily mounting or dismounting. Furthermore,they typically are constructed to impose various unwanted curvatures onthe spine.

Although it is possible for a patient to suspend himself from a trapezebar, such devices do not lend themselves to comfortable suspension of apatient in an inverted position since the weight of the entire body isdistributed over a relatively small area in contact with the bars.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The Back Therapy and Exercise Apparatus of thepresent invention provides a heavily padded knee bar suspended from anoverhead support with the bar and support preferably made of pipe ortubing. A padded toe bar is spaced laterally from the knee bar and isalso made of pipe or tubing. The padding is formed of a resilient foammaterial such as foam rubber with plastic wrapped around the foamrubber. The user may thereby hook his knees over the padded knee bar andhook his toes under the padded toe bar to depend his body in an invertedposition. The full body weight thereby acts as an elongating load to thelong axis of the body. The padding of the knee bar distributes the bodyweight over a larger area to permit comfortable suspension of the userin the inverted position. The padded toe bar makes hanging by the kneesmore comfortable and provides a safety factor in keeping the user fromaccidently falling from the apparatus.

A flexible ladder consisting of horizontal pipe sections supported onchains depends from the opposite ends of the padded knee bar. A trapezeis positioned with its horizontal bar slightly above and spacedlaterally from the knee bar with a rope having knots at .spacedintervals depending from the trapeze. A user may mount the apparatus bygrasping the trapeze bar, climbing the flexible ladder, hooking hisknees over the knee bar, hooking his toes under the toe bar, andlowering himself to the inverted position by means of the knotted rope.After the user has hung inverted for the desired length of time, he maydismount from the apparatus by the same procedure in reverse order.

In the preferred embodiment, the apparatus is hung from an overheadsupports such as rafters or joists. In an alternative embodiment, theapparatus is mounted on a free standing support rather than an overheadsupport. In the latter embodiment, the knee bar may be supported betweena pair of horizontal parallel members each connected to a pair ofinverted U-shaped support members. The toe bar may be provided by thehorizontal portion of one of the inverted U-shaped members. In thisembodiment, the trapeze may be mounted on the horizontal portion of thesecond U- shaped member or, alternatively, the knotted rope may beattached directly to the support with the trapeze eliminated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a backtherapy and exercise apparatus capable of providing traction treatment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a suspensionappparatus for supporting a user in an inverted position so that thefull body weight can act as an elongated load through the: long axis ofthe body.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a heavilypadded horizontal knee bar over which a user may hook his knees forsuspension in an inverted position with the weight of the userdistributed over the surface of the padding.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a ladder andcooperating knotted rope apparatus for mounting a back therapy andexercise apparatus.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a manuallyengageable trapeze bar spaced horizontally from a knee bar of a backtherapy apparatus for use in mounting the back therapy and exerciseapparatus to permit the user to be suspended therefrom in an invertedposition.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent as the specification proceeds, and the new and useful featureswill be fully defined in the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The preferred form of the presentinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale takensubstantially along the plane of line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, with a usermounting the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view similar to that of FIG. 3, but showingthe apparatus being used to provide back therapy and exercise;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view ofa modified form of the apparatus of thepresent invention incorporating a free standing support structure;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of the form of the invention shown inFIG. 5 being used to provide back therapy and exercise; and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the apparatus of FIG. 5.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a backtherapy and exercise apparatus constructed in accordance with thepresent invention and having a knee bar 11 wrapped with padding 12 overwhich a user may hook his knees and a toe bar 13, spaced laterally fromknee bar 11 by members 14 and 16, and under which a user may hook histoes or feet for hanging in an inverted positlon.

As shown in FIG. 2, the diameter of the padding 12 is substantiallygreater than that of the knee bar 11 to provide a large weight bearingsurface comfortable to the backs of the knees. The padding 12 ispreferably formed of a resilient foam material such as foam rubber, andmay have sheet plastic wrapped around the foam rubber to preventexcessive wear. The bars 11 and 13 may be solid or made of hollow pipeor tubing for lightness and strength.

As here shown, knee bar 11 is suspended by vertical members 17 and 18from an overhead support such as members 19, 21, 22 and 23 adapted to befixedly attached to a ceiling 24 by conventional fastening means (notshown).

A trapeze bar 26 is positioned slightly above and laterally apart fromthe knee bar 11 and is suspended from the support structure by flexiblechains 27 and 28. A rope 29 having spaced knots 30 is suspended from thetrapeze bar 26. A flexible ladder formed of chains 31 and 32 and havingrungs 33, 34, 35 and 36 depends from the opposite ends of padded bar 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, in order to mount the apparatus, a user 40 graspsthe trapeze bar 26 climbs the rungs 3336, hooks his knees over the kneebar 11 and hooks his feet near his toes under the padded toe bar 13. Theuser then lowers himself to an inverted position, as shown in FIG. 4, bymeans of the knotted rope 29 and hangs inverted for the desired lengthof time. The user dismounts from the apparatus by following the abovedescribed procedure in reverse order.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 a knee bar 38 having padding39 is mounted on parallel bars 41 and 42. Both bars 41 and 42 areconnected to inverted U-shaped members 43 and 44 and are furthersupported by diagonal braces 46. The inverted U- shaped member 43 isconnected through slip joints 47 to supporting legs 48 and 49, andinverted U-shaped bar 44 is connected through slip joints 51 tosupporting legs 52 and 53.

A knotted rope 54 is suspended from inverted U- shaped bar 44, as shownin FIGS. and 6. A chain ladder comprising chains 56 and 57 and rungs 58,59, 61 and 62 is connected to opposite ends of knee bar 38 as shown inFIGS. 5 and 7. The toe bar 63 is here provided by the horizontal portionofinverted U-shap'ed member 43 with some padding wrapped around it tocushion the instep of the user.

The user mounts the free standing embodiment of the present invention bygrasping the knotted rope 54 or member 44, climbing rungs 58, 59, 61 and62 of the flexible ladder, hooking his knees over the knee bar 38, andhooking his toes under the toe bar 63. The user then lowers himself toan inverted position as shown in FIG. 6, by means of the knotted rope54, and remains suspended for the desired length of time. The user thendismounts from the apparatus by simply following the above describedprocedure in reverse order, first, climbing hand over hand up the rope54, then disengaging his legs from bars 39 and 63 and climbing his feetdown ladder 57.

It is apparent therefore, that the present invention is adapted tosupport the body weight of the user in a relatively comfortable invertedposition. The padding on the knee bars permits distribution of theweight of the user to increase comfort in use of the invention. Thepresent invention thereby permits inverted suspension of the userwithout unwanted curvatures on the spine. The present apparatus alsoprovides for easy and safe mounting and dismounting by the user.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventioncan be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A back therapy and exercise apparatus, comprising a horizontal paddedknee bar supported in fixed position sufficiently high from the floorfor the user to hang suspended by his knees therefrom and allow hisweight to stretch his spine,

a padded second bar mounted in parallel horizontally spaced relation toand above said knee bar in position for the user hanging from said kneebar to hook his insteps under said second bar,

a flexible ladder hanging freely from said knee bar and havingvertically spaced parallel horizontal rungs,

and a manually engageable third bar mounted in parallel horizontallyspaced relation to and above said knee bar on the side thereof oppositeto said second bar whereby the user grasps said third bar and walks hisfeet up said rungs of said flexible ladder until the user can place hisknees over said knee bar and his insteps under said second bar.

2. An apparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein a manuallyengageable flexible member having spaced enlargements therealong issuspended freely from said third bar whereby the user raises and lowershis upper body hand over hand between a position grasping said third barand a position hanging from his knees from said knee bar.

3. An apparatus as described in claim 2 and wherein said flexible memberis a rope with spaced knots therein.

4. An apparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein said flexible laddercomprises a pair of chains each connected to opposite ends of saidsecond bar, and a plurality of spaced parallel rungs connecting saidchains.

5. An apparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein said apparatus isincorporated into a free standing frame.

6. An apparatus as described in claim 5 and wherein said freestandingframe comprises laterally spaced side frame.

1. A back therapy and exercise apparatus, comprising a horizontal paddedknee bar supported in fixed position sufficiently high from the floorfor the user to hang suspended by his knees therefrom and allow hisweight to stretch his spine, a padded second bar mounted in parallelhorizontally spaced relation to and above said knee bar in position forthe user hanging from said knee bar to hook his insteps under saidsecond bar, a flexible ladder hanging freely from said knee bar andhaving vertically spaced parallel horizontal rungs, and a manuallyengageable third bar mounted in parallel horizontally spaced relation toand above said knee bar on the side thereof opposite to said second barwhereby the user grasps said third bar and walks his feet up said rungsof said flexible ladder until the user can place his knees over saidknee bar and his insteps under said second bar.
 2. An apparatus asdescribed in claim 1 and wherein a manually engageable flexible memberhaving spaced enlargements therealong is suspended freely from saidthird bar whereby the user raises and lowers his upper body hand overhand between a position grasping said third bar and a position hangingfrom his knees from said knee bar.
 3. An apparatus as described in claim2 and wherein said flexible member is a rope with spaced knots therein.4. An apparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein said flexible laddercomprises a pair of chains each connected to opposite ends of saidsecond bar, and a plurality of spaced parallel rungs connecting saidchains.
 5. An apparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein saidapparatus is incorporated into a free standing frame.
 6. An apparatus asdescribed in claim 5 and wherein said freestanding frame compriseslaterally spaced side sections of inverted generally U-shape connectedtogether by said knee bar and said second and third bars.
 7. Anapparatus as described in claim 1 and wherein said apparatus furthercomprises a frame adapted for mounting on a ceiling and providing saidknee bar and said second bar, and said manually engageable third bar isprovided by a trapeeze adapted to be suspended from the ceiling inhorizontally spaced relation to said frame.